In the blink of an eye, the night of July 13 arrived quietly. At exactly eight o'clock, the highly anticipated The Voice made its grand debut. As the show progressed, the ratings soared like sesame flowers blooming stem by stem. Clearly, the novel format of blind auditions had struck a deep chord with ordinary people, captivating their hearts instantly.
The contestants came from all corners of the country, representing a vast array of professions: teachers who imparted knowledge and taught lessons, drivers gripping steering wheels, housewives managing household chores, and retired seniors enjoying leisurely days...
The viewers' sense of resonance instantly maxed out, and they all exclaimed that they had never seen such a uniquely charming program. Previously, the most grounded and entertaining show of this kind was probably Director Bi's show on Happy Avenue. But now, the arrival of The Voice undoubtedly brought a completely new audio-visual feast to the audience.
As the show drew near its conclusion, the much-anticipated appearance time for Qin Tian drew steadily closer. The continuous surge in ratings was proof enough that the production team's promotional campaign had been extraordinarily effective, successfully driving the audience's expectations to the absolute maximum. Everyone was dying to catch a glimpse of the talented young man hyped up by the network.
Time slipped away quietly, and before long, it was nearing ten-thirty. "Let's welcome our next singer!" Hua Shao's words rang out like a thunderclap, instantly igniting the atmosphere on site.
Immediately after, a VCR of Qin Tian began to play on the screen. In the footage, his crew cut gave him an exceptionally spirited look, and his off-the-charts good looks carried a hint of shyness amidst his handsome features. He smiled and waved to everyone. "Hello everyone, I'm Qin Tian, a second-year high school student. My bond with music started from..."
After the introduction, the screen cut away, and Hua Shao rattled off an ad read. Right after that, Qin Tian appeared center stage like a dazzling star.
"The moon splashes across the starry river, a long and arduous road, wind and smoke burnt to ashes, a solitary shadow lingers..." Qin Tian's singing voice was like celestial music, instantly conquering the hearts of the live audience. Sister Na spun her chair around without the slightest hesitation, with a speed that left people gaping in astonishment.
"Who calls my martial prowess extraordinary, who makes my love and hate a hard dilemma..." The singing continued to echo across the stage, and the audience was completely mesmerized, listening in a trance.
Li Guang, sitting in front of the television, couldn't help praising, "This song is pretty good. The opening lines are actually quite profound, unlike those tracks that only know how to sing about romance."
His wife chipped in from the side, teasing, "Didn't you see how handsome he is? Good-looking and talented, and singing about romance in high school? That's puppy love!"
Hearing this, Li Guang immediately grew displeased. "Are you so pedestrian? This is a singing contest!"
His wife didn't back down an inch either. "Can't a singer be good-looking?"
The couple's bickering brought a round of chuckles from the surrounding audience. Clearly, this mom fan had been completely captivated by Qin Tian. Such banter was a miniature reflection of tens of millions of households across the country, as people everywhere showered praise on Qin Tian's talent and looks.
"I want it, what use is this iron rod..." As the song continued, Sister Na had successfully completed her third chair turn. The audience couldn't contain their inner excitement either, shouting out cheers: "She turned! She turned! That's three turns right there!"
"How could she not turn? This song practically wrote out Wukong's inner journey! Hurry up and do a four-way turn!"
"Four-way turn! Four-way turn! Four-way turn!"
The hearts of millions of viewers rose and fell with Qin Tian's singing. Through the VCR, they had learned that this incredibly talented singer was actually just a high school sophomore, about the same age as their own kids.
Watching someone else's kid turn out so brilliant, quite a few viewers couldn't help sighing deeply, "Just look at somebody else's kid—makes you want to beat the stuffing out of your own kid the second the show's over."
Qin Tian probably never expected that he would quietly become the epitome of "somebody else's child." If he knew, his tail would likely be wagging high up in the sky again. The program on television continued in full swing.
"I want this iron rod to drunkenly dance with demons, I have these transformations to stir up the murky depths, trample the heavenly realm, unleash unbridled defiance, the world is wicked and the path treacherous, yet in the end it cannot escape—this single strike shall reduce you to ashes!" As these domineering and arrogant lyrics came to a close, Huan Ge also made a flamboyant spin, finally ushering in the glorious moment of the four-way turn.
"Boss, boss! It's exploding! It's exploding!" A staff member rushed over frantically to report to the executive.
"What's exploding? You're the one exploding! You're a grown-up, stop acting so jumpy, spit it out properly!" The executive put on a composed front and scolded him.
The staff member hastily explained, "Boss, the ratings have blown up! It broke 3 right at the start, and the moment Qin Tian came on stage it punched right through 4, and now it's already at 4.2!"
"How much?" The executive's eyes widened.
"4.2!"
"Quick, send out word: everyone's worked hard lately, bonuses for the end of the month go up across the board! For the next week until the next episode airs, focus all promotional efforts on this contestant!" After saying that, the executive felt a wave of secret relief wash over him.
"Good thing the decision back then wasn't wrong. This kid Qin Tian is truly worth throwing our weight behind. Barring any accidents, the show is completely secure from here on out!" These ratings were simply jaw-dropping.
The staff member expressed his profound gratitude through tears, thanking the executive. Afterward, the executive instructed the producer to renegotiate pricing terms with the previous advertisers.
"Damn it, when I was looking for you lot to sponsor us, I had to beg like I was pleading with grandparents, and you still put on airs. Look at us now—let's see who's begging whom!" the executive muttered to himself. Truly, things can change drastically in thirty years.
In truth, the show hadn't been favored at all in the beginning. Nowadays, talent shows were dominated by pretty boys and gorgeous girls, or else those non-mainstream styles like Super Girl.
Without handsome guys and beautiful girls, it was hard to catch people's eyes. When they first started recording, they didn't even have a title sponsor.
The program on TV was still rolling.
"(⊙o⊙) Whoa! There's another song, and this track is such a great fit for teenagers! I want the full version, begging for the link!" On Weibo, netizens were scrambling everywhere for the source audio to listen to the second song, but searching high and low yielded nothing.
"What the hell, Sister Na, hurry up and ask for the song title! She hadn't even answered yet, why did she go ahead and snatch him?"
"Hey! PP Music already has the audio up, all the songs from just now's competition are on there, go listen!"
"I want to hear the new song Wukong!"
Beneath the Weibo trending topics, comments about The Voice were all over the map.
"Qin Tian actually reads Wukong's Biography? That was my youth right there!"
"Are you reading Battle Through the Heavens?"
"Heaven did not produce me Li Chungang, the sword path remains an eternal dark night." As they chatted on, the conversation gradually drifted off topic entirely into novels.
Qin Tian scrolled through Weibo, and one thing was certain—he had blown up! And he had blown up big time! Before the show had even finished airing, he was already trending on two separate hot search topics, and his rankings were still shooting straight up.
Just then, the television program ended, wrapping up hastily with a single closing sentence from each of the four mentors.
Just like that? It was over?
They wouldn't announce which mentor he chose until the next episode.
Weibo exploded all over again!
"Are you out of your minds?! Who did Qin Tian actually pick?!"
"Director, aren't you afraid of getting mailed razor blades? Step outside and I guarantee I won't beat you to death!"
"Who taught you to edit like this? Did you learn dog shit in school?"
"Are you by any chance the one called Xia Luo? No, wait! Are you by any chance the director?!"
The topic "Qin Tian's Final Choice" rapidly surged up the hot search list, overtaking the "Qin Tian is a Prodigy" trending topic, and looked poised to break into the top three.
Qin Tian couldn't help making a deadpan remark: "The production team really knows how to edit."
Qin Tian had become a celebrity! Fortunately, he hadn't owned a smartphone before. It was only because he had been left behind independently in Zhejiang province due to a distant trip that they had bought him a phone, and not many people knew his number—just a few friends. Now, his phone wouldn't stop ringing continuously as people called in to congratulate him.
Back home in Harbin, the phones of Qin's Dad and Qin's Mom were also ringing non-stop. All the distant aunts and uncles claimed they could tell since he was a little kid that Qin Tian was destined for greatness, showering him with endless praise!
You've got to be kidding me! Qin Tian hadn't even realized he was destined for greatness himself! If not for his rebirth, his parents would have practically severed ties with him. Destined for greatness, my foot!
What was it that Little Black Fatty Guo Dagang used to say?
"The poor man brandishes ten steel hooks at the crossroads, unable to hook even his own flesh and blood; the rich man deep in the mountain forest swings blades and staves, yet cannot scatter faithless acquaintances and guests."
Either way, Qin Tian was a big deal now! According to his classmates, even though it was summer vacation, the school had already hung up a banner: "Celebrating Qin Tian, student of Class 3, Grade 2 of our school, for achieving outstanding results on The Voice!" Anyone who didn't know any better would have thought he'd scored the top marks in the national college entrance examination.
His teacher had also called to tell Qin Tian to focus on the competition and that she would help him catch up on his studies when he got back.
"Gee, thanks a lot!" Qin Tian's sarcasm stats were already maxed out.
Right at that moment, Sister Na called him as well. "Little Heavenly, do you feel like you've blown up? How does it feel?"
"Sister Na, aren't you just pulling my leg here? My popularity from this talent show is all superficial. Once the show ends, if I don't have original works, I'll be iced sooner or later." Qin Tian replied.
Sister Na continued, "Not bad, little Qin, hasn't gone to your head yet! I called you precisely because I was afraid your head would swell up. Anyway, you've blown up, so once you're famous don't forget the song you promised your sister!"
Head swell? Little Heavenly? Little Qin? Did I give permission for you to dish out nicknames? Do I dare let my head swell? And don't forget to send you a song—should I send you Liang Liang instead? What was the name of the teacher—Gu Jianfen—who used the phrase "good vocal cords paired with a dog brain" to describe someone again? My memory's terrible, how could I forget (?_?)?
Of course, these were all just cynical thoughts inside Qin Tian's head.
"Don't worry, Sister Na! I've already written your song, Silence. Sister Na, just give me your email address and I'll send it over to you shortly for your expert corrections." Qin Tian said.
"Now that's what I like to hear! And we're still on the phone!" Sister Na laughed and said.